On Tuesday, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Alabama announced charges against an Alabama-licensed deer breeder and his associate for illegally transporting whitetail deer from a facility in Indiana to their facility in Alabama.
Prosecutors filed the complaint against Lewis H. Skinner (56) and Franklin Banks Loden (56) for knowingly transporting and receiving whitetail deer in interstate commerce. According to the charge, the actions of the defendants were in direct violation of Alabama “closed-border” laws and the federal Lacey Act.
Prosecutors argue that as owner and operator of a licensed deer breeding facility in Sumter, Skinner Farms, Skinner was well aware of the Alabama laws. Skinner agreed to pay a $100,000 fine and $650,000 in restitution to the state of Alabama. He also surrendered his Alabama Game Breeders License.
According to the plea agreement, Skinner allegedly arranged for Loden to smuggle six captive-bred whitetail deer from Indiana to Alabama in November of 2016. Law enforcement stopped Loden and confiscated the deer in Tuscaloosa. The deer were determined to be lacking the proper identification pursuant to the Chronic Wasting Disease Herd Certification Program. CWD attacks the central nervous system of deer species, is infectious, and 100 percent fatal. Skinner is submitting all deer held at his facility for further testing for the disease.
“The illegal transport of deer from outside the State of Alabama by a licensed deer breeder motivated solely by profit places our entire whitetail deer herd at risk of this fatal disease,” said Alabama’s Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries Division Chief of Enforcement Michael Weathers. “The charge and plea agreement in this case are evidence of the Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries Division’s steadfast dedication to protecting the wildlife resources of the State of Alabama.”
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